Sydney Swans midfielder James Rowbottom spoke to the media in Melbourne, ahead of the Swans' clash with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

On the good start to the season

"We've obviously had a lot of footy played together with this group. Now we've had some pretty good seasons and some not-so-good seasons as well, but I think the continuity we've been able to put together since the start of pre-season are massive reasons to why we're playing the footy way at the moment. We've just got to keep it there and try not to drop off."

On Charlie Curnow not playing this weekend

"Yeah, obviously he's a very important player and takes the key defender each week, but Hayden McLean comes in, who's put in a massive block of work in the twos and kicked a lot of goals and competed really hard over the last few weeks especially. So, yeah, hopefully he goes well and we'll be sweet."

On not being complacent 

"Yeah, obviously you speak about it each week and figure out ways to try and stay on top of your form and not let any session or game go to waste and put things in place to not let that happen. So it's definitely something you do speak about, yeah."

On the challenge of North Melbourne

 "Yeah, I think definitely their mids and forward of the ball. They've got a lot of talent and a lot of explosiveness. They can put on goals and put them on quickly. I think that we saw last week to push Geelong for the best part of three quarters was a lot of their best footy of the year and we're preparing for that."

On Errol Gulden's return

"I think the official timeline is eight to twelve weeks. He's back running and back around the boys and his energy is as high as it always is. So, he'll be a much welcome return when he does come back."